2020 Annual Report
California Tahoe Conservancy
The California Tahoe Conservancy is a state agency leading California’s efforts to restore and enhance the extraordinary natural and recreational resources of the Lake Tahoe Basin. This annual report highlights the Conservancy’s 2020 accomplishments for each its five strategic plan goals.
1. Stewarding Conservancy Lands and Protecting Basin Communities from Wildfire
Managing Public Land in a Pandemic
The Conservancy coordinated closely with partner agencies to protect public health by adjusting access to public lands and educating the public about staying COVID-safe in the outdoors.
The Conservancy addressed a record number of citizen concerns and completed essential restoration and maintenance work.
Staffing Field Crews in a Pandemic
The Conservancy and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District’s joint field crews improved forest health and reduced wildfire risk on the Conservancy’s neighborhood lots.
2. Restoring the Resilience of Basin Forests and Watersheds
Video: Upper Truckee Marsh Restoration Project
Forest Health at Dollar Creek
The Conservancy thinned 260 acres of overly dense brush and trees on the Dollar Creek property, restoring the resilience to the forest while reducing the wildfire threat to adjacent neighborhoods.
Improving Forest Health at Dollar Creek (2020)
Improving Forest Health and Reducing Wildfire Risk at Van Sickle Bi-State Park
The Conservancy and Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District thinned 108 acres at Van Sickle Bi-State Park, which the Conservancy and Nevada State Parks co-manage. Crews will burn the thinned wood in piles in 2021. This work protects resources in the park and upwind neighborhoods in Nevada.
Lake Tahoe West
Lake Tahoe's west shore forests.
The Lake Tahoe West Restoration Partnership is restoring 59,000 acres of Lake Tahoe’s west shore forests and watershed - from the shoreline all the way to the ridgetops, from Emerald Bay north to Tahoe City. This year the agencies and stakeholders focused on environmental planning for this project.
Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative
Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative partners aim to restore the resilience of 2.4 million acres of forests and watersheds, including the Lake Tahoe Basin.
In 2020, TCSI partners honed their scientific approach to restoration and assessed resource conditions across the landscape.
[Click graphic to enlarge.] The Pillars of Resilience - excerpted from the forthcoming TCSI Framework for Resilience.
Forestry Grants
Prescribed burning at Ed Z'Berg Sugar Pine Point State Park. | Photo: California State Parks / Evan Waterhouse
A. Biomass Transport and Utilization Project and Grants - $676,000 for three grants to California State Parks (State Parks), the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, and the Great Basin Institute to reduce carbon emissions from forest restoration by transporting chipped limbs, brush, and small trees for bioenergy and other uses.
B. Phase 2 of the California State Parks Fuel Hazard Reduction and Understory Burning Project - $97,500 grant to State Parks to continue thinning and understory burning in dense forests at Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point State Park.
C. Máyala Wáta Restoration Project - $380,454 grant to the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California to restore Meeks Meadow and resume culturally guided prescribed burning.
D. Forest Health Training and Job Placement Program - a $351,000 grant to the Lake Tahoe Community College District for a program to increase the number of forestry professionals available for Basin restoration and wildfire protection.
E. Prescribed Fire Optimization Strategy - $75,000 grant to the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station for analysis to help Tahoe land managers improve how they use prescribed fire. (Basinwide)
Upper Truckee Marsh Restoration
The Conservancy began restoring Tahoe's largest wetland to improve wildlife habitat and water quality that flows to Lake Tahoe.
Virtual Tour of the Upper Truckee Marsh Restoration Project
Tahoe Pines Restoration and Public Access Project
This 8.1-acre site is open to the public, featuring a rehabilitated riverfront, new wetlands, and a new accessible trail. (Parking closes each winter but the land remains open to pedestrians.)
Virtual Tour of the Tahoe Pines Restoration and Public Access Project
3. Providing Public Access & Outdoor Recreation for All Communities
Video: Cove East
South Tahoe Greenway
Supported by Conservancy funding and using Conservancy lands, El Dorado County made significant progress building the next two phases of this important shared-use trail.
Virtual Tour of the South Tahoe Greenway Project
Recreation and Public Access Grants
The current pier at Kings Beach State Recreation Area
A. Kings Beach Pier Relocation and Recreation Improvements - $650,000 to State Parks to relocate a pier that is left stranded when droughts lower lake levels.
B. Rubicon Trail and Emerald Bay Facilities Improvements - $100,000 grant to California State Parks for hiking trail improvements, signage, and restoration.
C. Tahoe Valley Stormwater and Greenbelt Improvement Project - $375,000 grant to the City of South Lake Tahoe to plan new bike and pedestrian trails and infrastructure to treat storm water runoff that drains to Lake Tahoe.
D. 56 Acre Downtown Improvements - $425,000 grant to the City of South Lake Tahoe to plan the future of the civic and recreation hub.
E. Lake Tahoe Water Trail Outreach - $150,000 to the Sierra Business Council for outreach and education to paddlers. (Basinwide)
4. Fostering Basinwide Climate Change Adaptation & Sustainable Communities
Video: Bikers and pedestrians in South Lake Tahoe.
Climate Change Adaptation
The Conservancy and its partners released the Integrated Vulnerability Assessment of Climate Change in the Lake Tahoe Basin and are coordinating actions to help adapt to climate change impacts in the Basin.
Photo: Storm over Lake Tahoe. More frequent and intense storms are expected at Tahoe. Increasingly, winter storms will bring rain instead of snow.
Climate Change Adaptation Grants
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Update - $100,000 to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to update a Basinwide greenhouse gas emissions inventory and to assess the landscape's potential to capture and store carbon. (Basinwide)
Identifying Adaptive Traits for Climate Resilience in Sugar Pine Trees - $186,836 to the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center to study seedlings from sugar pine trees that survived the recent drought. The goal is to help forest managers adapt to climate change by selecting the best seeds for restoration projects. (Northwest parts of the Basin)
The mother tree of this sugar pine seedling withstood years of drought and bark beetle outbreaks, suggesting resiliency to such threats. Scientists hope that resiliency was passed along to the seedlings. (Kat Kerlin, UC Davis)
Water and Sewer Infrastructure Assessment, Planning, and Design - $250,000 to the South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD) to assess the vulnerability of Basin water and sewer infrastructure to climate change. STPUD will also design projects to harden that infrastructure to climate change. (Basinwide)
Watershed Hydrosimulation - $80,000 to the Desert Research Institute to model how the Basin’s tributary watersheds will respond to larger storms expected with climate change. The goal is to help Tahoe agencies and jurisdictions update infrastructure and restoration designs, and better adapt to climate risks. (Basinwide)
Photo: Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe
Sustainable Communities
Video: South Lake Tahoe near the Conservancy's Alta Mira property and the 56-Acre civic hub.
Facilitating Lake-Friendly Development
The Conservancy's Tahoe Livable Communities program acquires and restores aging developed properties on environmentally sensitive lands. The Conservancy also retires or transfers the development rights from such properties to town centers – in 2020, Conservancy processed a record 40 such transactions.
Photo: Tahoe City
Facilitating Affordable Housing
Through regional collaborations and its own asset lands, the Conservancy has continued to facilitate the addition of more affordable housing opportunities in the Basin.
Facilitating Affordable Housing
In 2020, the Conservancy and its partners advanced proposed affordable housing on state-owned land in South Lake Tahoe.
The proposed Sugar Pine Village project.
Using online tools to engage the community in a pandemic
The Conservancy ramped up use of online tools—such as online meetings and digital ads in local media—to inform and engage the community about efforts to increase affordable housing. Hundreds of community members participated in the virtual public meetings.
5. Striving for Organizational Learning and Excellence
Remote work transformation
In March the entire Conservancy staff shifted to remote work overnight. Our Information Technology team worked around the clock to equip all employees with hardware and software to keep time-sensitive work moving ahead.
Monitoring conservation from the skies
The Conservancy uses its drone to take aerial photos of the Upper Truckee Marsh restoration (see above) and other areas.
Our GIS analyst maps the images—and repeat them over time—to monitor changes during and after restoration.
Towards Racial Equity
The Conservancy has joined with 14 other California state agencies to participate in a comprehensive training and planning program to address racial inequity. This work enhances the Conservancy’s mission and will help ensure we are working better on behalf of all Californians.
Fiscal Year 2019-20 Report
The Conservancy lines up funding from grants and other sources over multiple years for major Conservancy projects but often spends them in a single year when project implementation begins. Additionally, expenditures include grants made using funds carried over from prior years. The Conservancy maintains a balanced budget.
Show Your Love for Tahoe
Pro skiers Elyse Saugstad and Cody Townsend
Show off your love and support of protecting Lake Tahoe by ordering your California Lake Tahoe license plate. 96 percent of the fees generated from license plate sales come back to Lake Tahoe, resulting in more hiking and biking trails as well as water quality and restoration projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin. New Tahoe license plate fees benefiting the Tahoe Basin are $50. The annual renewal fee is $40. Personalized plates are also available for additional fees.
